Our First Hike in WV

We have a state park pretty close to our home so I know we will have lots of outside adventure at our fingertips. 

I looked at the website for a little information on the hiking trails. They all didn't have much description to them, let alone where the trail head started so it was a guessing game as we drove around. 

The hike was called Hemlock Falls 

I picked that one first because it was only supposed to be 3/4 mile. I knew we would be going later in the day so I didn't want to be still in the woods while the sun was setting.  Also it was the only "falls" hike on the list...and I am a sucker for waterfalls! 

We finally found the trail after we asked for a little direction from a employee. 

The employee said that they just graveled the road so we couldn't miss it. 

Mikes GPS watch didn't have signal at the time when we started so we walked a good while before we turned around being way more then 3/4 mile and no sight of waterfall. 

We had took the wrong gravel path.

Just a couple pictures before the turn around. 

Once we turned around and found the right way, it was probably a mile in just to get to the trail head. So the 3/4 mile was after you made it to the head.

  There were a couple stream crossing while we continued up hill. 

Usually, with waterfall hikes, one would thing you would be walking down hill...but the trail just kept going up. 

After the 3/4 mile of practically running because Emma is becoming upset we made it to the end of the trail. 

ummm....no waterfall? 

Yes, later when I googled more about this trail, (I only actually found one and only one thing written about it) there is not waterfall on Hemlock Falls trail. 

???

WTF! 

So we quickly turned around and ran out of the woods. The plan was to let Emma finally get out of the Ergo and play a little in the stream.

  

Over 5 miles later...we were heading back to the truck.

It was nice to get outside and away from all of the boxes that still need to be organized at the house. I learned my lesson to do some more research on a hike next time because I was really in the mood for some cascades. 

Also...coming from Hawaii and not having to worry about the dangers (except for falling to your death off a cliff) we need to be a little more prepared with bear spray. I would not want to come in contact and not be prepared!  

Wild and Wonderful

Wild and Wonderful...

that is our "new homes" motto. 

But before I get into that, just a quick catch up on June.

Its been a busy one!

~ Mike finally arrived in the beginning of the month.

~We left Ohio a couple days later to make the 4 hour drive down to find a home to rent.

We found one at the last minuet

~We drove back to Ohio and stayed to visit family and friends for about 2 weeks.

 Emma had her first taste of real sauce.

She met one of her cousins, Lucy.

~We drove back to our "new home" with Bolo and Emma to have our household goods delivered. 

~We stayed for about 3 days to get a jump on putting our "new home" together.

(lets just say it is impossible to get anything done with a little one around) 

We drove back to Ohio for a weekend trip to go to a friends wedding. 

~We squeezed in seeing more family and friends along with a nature walk and Emmas first carnival

 First Elephant Ear 

 She was drawn <3

~We said our goodbyes in Ohio and drove back to our "new home" to get our new life started. 

Moving from Hawaii to our 'new home' is definitely going to be a huge change in every way possible. I am keeping a open mind on this new way of life and hopefully I can find things that I love about this new place. 

When Mike decided to join the military I was extremely excited to travel around every few years to soak in as much as I can. I just didn't expect the first place that we lived for a extended amount of time to have such a huge impacted on my life the way Hawaii did. I still think about it everyday and it makes me sad that it is no longer home. I would do anything to go back but I have to continue reminding myself to keep a open mind about this "new place". 

 Taking a break from unboxing.

The humidity is crazy here! 

 There is a community center in our neighborhood that is FREE! I have a feeling we will be taking advantage of that! 

The rest of June will be more unboxing, organizing and getting Emma back on a sleep schedule...not that she had one before but I am still trying 

Wordless Wednesday

Waterfalls

I never really thought of Ohio having such nice waterfalls. 

Lately I just cant get enough of them so I dragged Mike (and Emma) out with me to see two.

 First waterfall was Blue Hen Falls 

 I was presently surprised with these falls.  The water wasnt heavy but they were still nice. Super quick walk to get there too, 

 Bridal Veil Falls

We let Emma walk this one. She had a blast! 

Beautiful places that I wish I would have explored when I actually lived in Ohio 

Emma Tours Cleveland

I am not a huge basketball fan but Mike is. He is a huge fan of every sport now that I think of it. Because The Cavs are in the finals this year and they just won the last game, Mike wanted to head down to the city to check out all of the excitement.  

 Lebron is God in this town.

Setting up the ESPN announcers tent

 Tower City (mall) and the Casino 

 Browns Stadium 

 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame 

 Johnny Cashes Tour Bus 

 I don't really know anything about this ship...but you could take a tour of it so it must be something interesting.

OMG Slymans! 

Mike and I probably missed this the most.

The BEST cornbeef ever.

There were a couple other places that we wanted to stop at but just didn't have the time. We probably wont be making it back downtown while we are still here so this trip will just have to do. 

At least we ate the cornbeef. That was number one on the list. 

Brandywine Falls

It has been pouring rain what feels like non stop lately.

 And with rain comes fantastic waterfalls!!!

Brandywine Falls is a pretty beautiful waterfall on a normal (not so rainy day). 

When we went it was crazy!

 I have never seen a waterfall with this much power. 

 Humidity hates me

 Mom, Emma and I tried to hike the whole
trail but the water was so high they closed the bridge that connects to the other part of the trail. 

Very cool area that I will hopefully be able to check out a little more before the big move.